We take the kids camping quite a bit and without fail, whenever we are heading out for another weekend away, someone will say “You CAMP??” As if it were totally foreign to them. This never ceases to amaze me, since I grew up camping and expect to always go camping one way or another. When I was young, my family had a cab-over camper on my Dad’s pickup truck. Some of the best memories from my childhood are from those camping trips! We went to Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, Sequoia and Lassen…

It was a real thrill when my brother and I got to ride on the bed on top while we drove. I remember laying there looking at the cars out the little window on the side, singing to the people, imagining them hearing me (I think I figured I’d be discovered someday!) We sang the Beach Boys a lot, and I remember heading home from many trips singing California Girls. LOL! I remember the tiny cramped space, setting up and taking down the dinette to make room for us kids, and I remember Mom making Hamburger Helper and Snack ‘N Cake in that little oven – remember those cakes you mixed and baked right in the box?

I remember feeding the ground squirrels and braiding pine needles, collecting acorns and pressing wildflowers. I remember being dragged up mountains crying (my journey up the Mist Trail at Yosemite is legendary in my family!) and I remember feeling like wonder woman after having pushed myself to get to the tops of others. I remember riding our bikes and making new friends, some of whom became pen pals briefly. But most of all I remember the sense of adventure, going somewhere we had never been, doing and seeing things we had never done or seen, smelling and touching and hearing new things and loving it all.

I’ve been determined to make similar memories possible with my own kids. We’ve camped with my parents, and with friends, and with cousins. We started out tent camping, graduated to a pop-up tent trailer and now pull a 29′ travel trailer that is creaky and quirky, but heavenly. Some say it isn’t “real camping” but it is to us – all the senses are still engaged and the fun memories are being formed. We go for hikes and learn how to maneuver over big boulders in slick soled shoes, we pick barely black wild blackberries and marvel at how delicious the sour pie is, we sing camp songs and oldies by the campfire late into the night, and play hide and seek in the redwoods. I wonder which experiences will stick out for my kids when they are my age? And I wonder if they’ll continue the tradition with their own? I sure hope so!